I am a sucker for madness on screen. ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ remains one of the few absolutely crazy film rides I have ever taken in mainstream Bollywood.

The film is 20 years old, still it effortlessly finds its way into one’s daily life. Till today, people mouth the dialogues and it doesn’t just stop here. The brilliance of the film is proved when people take these dialogues to explain situations. Take, for instance, the “Aaya hoon toh kuch leke jaaunga..” line, which is used by anyone who forcefully takes up an opportunity or makes use of unplanned chance. Another atrociously funny dialogue, “Gogo ji aapka ghagra..” is not just used when someone is unaware of a wardrobe malfunction but also referred to anything out of place.

The biggest reason of the film’s connect is the fantastic characterisation. One doesn’t remember the film as a Salman Khan or an Aamir Khan film, one remembers it because of the memorable characters. Each one is unique and has a quirk. Put Amar, Prem, Teja, Gogo, Anand Akela, Bhalla and Robert in any situation and they will have you rolling on the floor with laughter.

As a filmmaker, I know how difficult it is to make one person laugh and then to make a room full of people laugh is something else. Then to make them laugh at the same jokes every time is something only a genius film can achieve. This is what ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ does for me every time I watch it.

Simplicity is the most difficult thing to achieve. Just like, it’s not the sharpness of the knife but the heat of it that cuts through the butter — in the case of ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ the heat is what comes from the team’s experience. The film for me is spontaneity par excellence. There are films of various genres and then there is ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, a genre in itself.

‘Andaz Apna Apna didn’t have a bound script’

Dileep Shukla, the dialogue writer of ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ talks about the magic of improvisation that shaped the film we love

How did the idea of the film come about?
After the success of Ghayal and Damini, director Rajkumar Santoshi and I had become a formidable team. Santoshi had an idea that he shared it with Aamir (Khan) and Salman (Khan). Both the actors loved the idea so much that they came on board instantly.

So the film never had a bound script?
That was the nature of this film. Comedy films usually depend a lot on improvisation and even if they have a bound script, they improve upon it. After Aamir and Salman signed film, the film evolved. For example, when Prem is asked whether he has seen Sholay, Amar says “Iske baap ne likhi hai” which was a reference to Salman’s father Salim Khan continued…